Economic cost of wasted hours caused by London traffic gridlock to hit £9.3bn by 2030

Gabriella Griffith is diary editor for City A.M. She can be contacted at gabriella.griffith@cityam.com.

Gabriella Griffith

Drivers in London spent more than 250 hours idling in traffic (Source: Getty)

Traffic gridlock has a substantial effect on the economy and this is set to get significantly worse by 2030, according to a report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).

Having studied the real-time information provided by traffic analytics firm INRIX, the CEBR concluded drivers in London spent more than 250 hours idling in traffic in 2013 and this was likely to increase to 299 hours by 2030, equivalent to 40 working days a year.

The sharp increase is being blamed on population growth, GDP per capita growth and changes to the cost of motoring and car ownership.

Fewer than one-third of commuters drive to work in London, but CEBR analysts believe the economic cost of these wasted hours will reach £9.3bn by 2030 – an increase of 71 per cent from today, costing each household an estimated £4,000.

“This study is a warning of the worsening impact of gridlock on the British economy and on household budgets,” said Matt Simmons, European director, INRIX. “If we think this problem is bad now, we are in for a terrible shock come 2030. Ultimately, cities need to be more innovative in their approach to tackling gridlock.”